KJCKorea
Journal Central

Chujae Cho Susam, an eminent poet in the late Chosun dynasty who went to China six times and wrote his every travel in the form of poem, was very interested in folklore and wrote some poems of times and seasons of the year and also had bamboo-branch poems. ‘Palace-poem of Koryo’ have a distinct style reflecting his dexterity of poems of times and seasons of the year. Nevertheless, this is not noticed yet. ‘Palace-poem of Koryo’ consists of twenty-two poems with a little epilogue. According to the little epilogue, Chujae had read Chungho Paesa (Miscellaneous History of Blue Lake) and written some poems in the form of bamboo-branch poems. The book of Chungho Paesa (Miscellaneous History of Blue Lake) has not yet known to anyone but we could estimate its character by reading ‘Palace-poem of Koryo’. Chungho Paesa (Miscellaneous History of Blue Lake) would be a kind of unofficial history or historical episodes of Koryo dynasty. ‘Palace-poem of Koryo’ would better be studied in the historical context of Palace-poem of Chosun dynasty. My way of reading this poems is different from it. I am aiming to lay ‘Palace-poem of Koryo’ on the context of whole works of Chujae, and my method, I wish, leads us to understand its own value. In ‘Palace-poem of Koryo’ were written various things in the palace. Compared to the absolute quantity of historical data of Chosun dynasty, those of Koryo dynasty is scarce, and first of all, true value of ‘Palace-poem of Koryo’ is to give us some historical data. Most of existent Palace-poems before Chujae were created with positive attitude and depicted the bright side of palace affairs, whereas ‘Palace-poem of Koryo’ is dealing with other side of palace such as corruption of Buddhism, real world of eunuch and private life of king. This approach to the materials helped us feel poet’s individuality. His some writings include Records of the weird, Bamboo-branch poems of new year’s fill moon day, and Poems of times and seasons of the year all based on the folklore, and these works inherits us new scene of cultural history. ‘Palace-poem of Koryo’ is on the same line of those works: it would be a significant data to let readers know palace affairs and moreover social lives of Koryo dynasty.

Palace-poem, palace affairs, poems of times and seasons of the year, bamboo-branch poems, cultural history